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A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Book Reviewed by:An explosive memoir charting one woman's career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.
From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.
Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg's reaction when he learned of Facebook's role in Trump's election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to "lean in."
Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade―told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.
There have been plenty of articles about Facebook's corporate culture and its questionable business practices over the years. But here, everything comes from Wynn-Williams' own experiences and observations; we're not so much reading about a corporation as about a woman trying to function within its constraints. The fact that she desperately wants Facebook to be a force for good in the world is palpable, as is her frustration that no one in leadership wants to even talk about creating guardrails to ensure the platform isn't misused...continued
Full Review
(944 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Sarah Wynn-Williams' book, Careless People, details her experiences at Facebook from 2011 to 2017. The company had been around for seven years before her chronicle begins, however, and its earliest history is fascinating.
Born May 14, 1984, Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg was a wunderkind. He displayed a talent for computer programming from an early age, encouraged by his father, Edward, who taught him Atari BASIC when he was around 10 years old. Mark outstripped his father's ability to instruct him within a few months, so his parents hired a software developer to tutor him—a move that quickly paid off. Edward, a dentist who ran his practice from his house, wanted a way to contact his receptionist without having to trudge ...
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An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance—from a co-founder of the pioneering artificial intelligence company DeepMind
Maria Semple
This book is unbelievable and necessary. First off, it's wonderfully written, propulsive, novelistic, and LOL at times. It details the morally bankrupt forces atop Facebook who are personally, knowingly responsible for a swath of crimes against yes, humanity…I so, so recommend this book. It's a zippy read, and like I said, at times truly funny to be in the room where it happens with these morally bankrupt snowflakes…an amazing gift that this book was written.
